The Philippine government aspires to supply vaccines to the majority of the citizens in the country. Around 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines from China arrived at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday, while another 500,000 more vaccines from AstraZeneca will arrive next week after shipping faced delays.

The Department of Health (DOH) released a priority list for the vaccine distribution based on their risk of exposure.

First in line to receive the vaccine are healthcare workers being frontliners in the battle against coronavirus. But a group of the frontliners expressed concern on the low efficacy of Sinovac vaccines. The representative mentioned that frontline workers deserve vaccine doses with higher efficacies considering the level of danger they face everyday.

Next in line are the senior citizens then followed by the indigenous people and uniformed personnel such as the police and the military.

“With the initial limited supply, frontline health workers and uniformed personnel are prioritized since they have higher risk of exposure while on duty and to allow them to continue fulfilling their duties in both the public and private sectors. Vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the indigent population, are prioritized guided by the principle of equity” DOH stated in their website.

Since the vaccines have a limited number of doses, groups that are not part of the priority list are asked to continually follow safety precautions against the COVID-19.. The government assured that vaccines will be given for free following a priority sequence. However, there is no mention yet as to how the vaccine will be given for free to those who are excluded in the priority list.